Role in plot: Faustino Santos is the butcher friend of Pedro and Pablo Vicario, and it his shop that the Vicario brothers go to at three-twenty in the morning to sharpen their knives. He thought that it was strange for the brothers to be visiting his shop so early on a Monday morning, as they usually came on Fridays, and so concluded that they were drunk, especially because the brothers informed him that they were going to kill Santiago Nasar. When Pedro and Pablo later visited his shop a second time to sharpen a second pair of knives, the idea of them being drunk was only reinforced, since Faustino Santos believed that the brothers were sharpening the same pair of knives. He did, however, inform the a local police that the Twins were talking about murdering Santiago Nasar, and so is not completely guilty of inaction.
Significance of name in work: The name “Faustino” is the Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese form of the ancient roman cognomen “Fuastinus”, which in turn is derived from the roman name “Fuastus”. Faustus means “auspicious”, or “lucky”, in Latin, while Faustinus was the name of several early saints. “Santos” also supports the idea brought up by the first name; its origin is Spanish or Greek, and in both languages it can be directly translated to mean “saint”. However, this is contradictory to characterization, because Faustino Santos is far from saint-like. He is a butcher and kills animals on a daily basis, and furthermore his is the shop in which the brothers’ knives are sharpened. This is particularly ironic because Faustino Santos both facilitates Santiago Nasar’s murder by allowing the brothers so sharpen their knives, and yet at the same time attempts to prevent it, by informing the police.
Character’s name: Faustino Santos
Role in plot: Faustino Santos is the butcher friend of Pedro and Pablo Vicario, and it his shop that the Vicario brothers go to at three-twenty in the morning to sharpen their knives. He thought that it was strange for the brothers to be visiting his shop so early on a Monday morning, as they usually came on Fridays, and so concluded that they were drunk, especially because the brothers informed him that they were going to kill Santiago Nasar. When Pedro and Pablo later visited his shop a second time to sharpen a second pair of knives, the idea of them being drunk was only reinforced, since Faustino Santos believed that the brothers were sharpening the same pair of knives. He did, however, inform the a local police that the Twins were talking about murdering Santiago Nasar, and so is not completely guilty of inaction.
Significance of name in work: The name “Faustino” is the Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese form of the ancient roman cognomen “Fuastinus”, which in turn is derived from the roman name “Fuastus”. Faustus means “auspicious”, or “lucky”, in Latin, while Faustinus was the name of several early saints. “Santos” also supports the idea brought up by the first name; its origin is Spanish or Greek, and in both languages it can be directly translated to mean “saint”. However, this is contradictory to characterization, because Faustino Santos is far from saint-like. He is a butcher and kills animals on a daily basis, and furthermore his is the shop in which the brothers’ knives are sharpened. This is particularly ironic because Faustino Santos both facilitates Santiago Nasar’s murder by allowing the brothers so sharpen their knives, and yet at the same time attempts to prevent it, by informing the police.
Chi-Chi Chuang